Good and bad of OHL on display last week

The good and the bad of the Ontario Hockey League was on display the last couple of weeks.

First, the positive. Veteran Ottawa 67's General Manager-head coach Brian Kilrea stood behind the bench for his 2,100th OHL game in his team's 6-2 victory over the visiting Soo Greyhounds.

The man nicknamed "Killer" notched his 1,159th victory, adding to his Canadian Hockey League record for most wins as a head coach. Kilrea is a legend in hockey circles north of the border, and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

If 67's fans in the Ottawa Civic Centre wanted to toast the milestone with a beer, they couldn't. The sale of beer was banned in the building by provincial authorities because of the selling of alcohol to a minor at an earlier game.

The ban, by the way, lasted just three games.

Now for the bad. Kitchener defenseman Dan Kelly is out four-to-six weeks with a broken ankle suffered in the Rangers' 7-6 home victory over Owen Sound.

What makes the injury even tougher to take for Kitchener is Kelly was slew footed near center ice by Owen Sound's Garrett Wilson, sending Kelly crashing into the board awkwardly.

The league didn't take too kindly to Wilson's actions, suspending him for 15 games.

The league also released a statement condemning the play. "The act of slew footing is an action that we must eliminate from our game for the benefit and safety of all players."

Slew footing, by the way, takes place when a player uses his feet to knock an opponent's skates out from under him with a kicking or leg dragging motion from behind.

Top player

The OHL player of the Week is Brampton goalie Brandon Foote.

All the 17-year-old from Whitby, Ontario did was lead the Battalion to four wins with two shutouts, a goals-against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .929.

Foote leads all rookie netminders with six wins, two shutouts and a 2.35 GAA.

Standout showing

The performance of Sarnia's Justin DiBenedetto, which led to being named the OHL Player of the Week two weeks ago, was one for the books.

The New York Islanders draft pick scored five goals and added four assists in three games.

Since returning from the Islanders training camp, the 20-year-old DiBenedetto has nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in seven games.

Welcome back

Kazem Kadri helped the Kitchener Rangers capture the OHL title last year as a 17-year-old, scoring 25 goals and adding 40 assists for 65 points. But midway through the season he was traded to London even though he didn't have to return to his hometown to wear a Knights' uniform until this year.

Kadri got his first chance to play against his old teammates last week and scored once in a 3-1 London victory.

Much like Saginaw's Barry Sanderson who played for Niagara last season, Kadri spent some time before the game catching up with some old friends. Sanderson did the same thing before the Spirit's 4-2 win over the IceDogs last Saturday. v

Mark Constantine is a sports writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him by calling 776-9769 or at mconstantine@thesaginawnews.com.